


Another Notch

by lyn452



Category: Stranger Things (TV 2016)
Genre: F/M, Implied Sexual Content, Memories, Smutty Thoughts, Unresolved Sexual Tension
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-07-05
Updated: 2019-07-05
Packaged: 2020-06-11 15:24:06
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,113
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19541593
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lyn452/pseuds/lyn452
Summary: Missing moment after Murray once again speaks for the audience. Some spoilers for Stranger Things 3.Joyce reflects on her relationship with Jim Hopper.





	Another Notch

Neither of them had said anything since the Russian in the back seat and the laughing stopped. Joyce didn’t know what to say to Hop now. She felt like she was 16 again, and Jim Hopper was the big football star who was charming, handsome and slept with every pretty girl who let him. 

Joyce never let him. Joyce knew she could have back then. Jim had hit on her plenty as they shared cigarettes, but she didn’t want to be another notch on his bedpost. Didn’t want to lose the small friendship they had. She had had absurd fantasies as a teenage girl about becoming Jim Hopper’s girlfriend. That one day he would look at her and just decide she was the only woman for him. 

That had never happened. They remained sort of friends, who were never close, until graduation. Then Hop went to Vietnam and Joyce met Lonnie Byers, and their paths became set. Joyce had never thought to see him again, until he returned a broken man. She’d been too busy keeping her own broken life together to do anymore than say “hello” to him. It wasn’t until Will’s disappearance that their friendship rebuilt itself and became stronger than it had been. He became her best friend and she was pretty sure she was his. They fell back into a familiar routine, taking small moments out their busy lives to speak with one another.

And just like back then, Joyce knew Hopper would have fucked her if she let him. She wouldn’t, as this time she had more to lose than a sometimes friend.

Murray’s words echoed in her mind “Yes, yes, he's a brute. I know. Probably reminds you of a bad relationship, and, gosh, you'd really like a nice man to settle down with, but, admit it, you're real curious to know what he's like in the sack.”

Joyce hated how true those words were. She did wonder. She’d heard the rumors, it couldn’t be helped in a small town like Hawkins. She’d heard about his sleeping around, heard women gossip about how he didn’t return phone calls or let anyone spend the night. She’d heard the ranting about what a jackass he was.

But she’d heard other things too. Karen Wheeler had gotten drunk one night and told all about how Melissa Stephens had slept with Hopper, and how the man was “apparently big everywhere.” She also whispered in that drunk not whispering way that he’d learned some things since high school and ate a woman out as though her lower lips tasted like whiskey. 

Joyce had blushed and changed the subject at the time. But alone, in her bedroom, she’d wondered. She’d wondered what Jim Hopper would be like in bed. That night had been the first night she got herself off to the thought of Jim Hopper, as she had been too self-conscious to do such a thing in high school. 

It hadn’t been the last time she'd fucked herself to the thought of him. 

Bob had pushed thoughts of Hopper aside, as she’d loved him. He was good for her and her boys in a way Jim never could be. The police chief seemed to know this, as he’d never even attempted to push Bob aside. 

Though Joyce couldn’t help but notice the glares Hop sent Bob’s way when he thought no one was watching. She noticed how he never addressed Bob unless forced to. She’d even called him out on it once, “Why are you so mean to Bob?”

“What? I’m not mean to Bob.”

“You are. You ignore him whenever you can.”

Hopper had shrugged, fishing in his pockets for a cigarette. “I ignore a lot of people. Bob’s a smart guy, he knows not to take it personally.” He lit up, inhaling the smoke and pushing it out through his nostrils. 

Joyce bummed one despite being on another attempt to quit. “You aren’t like that with me,” she had pointed out as he lit hers for her. 

Hopper took another drag. “Joyce, I don’t treat anyone like I treat you.”

That exchange, Joyce remembered now, had resulted in another long silence between them. Joyce’s eyes glanced to Hopper now. She could see that his knuckles were white from his tight grip on the steering wheel. It was a pattern, she decided. Neither her nor Hop were good at confronting truths between them. They could admit the truth, but neither could ever do anything about it.

A few weeks ago, Joyce had picked up Will from the Wheelers’ house. Her and Karen had talked until the other woman burst out, “What is he like in bed?”

“Excuse me,” Joyce had asked, taken aback. Was Karen talking about Bob?

“You know, you and the police chief,” Karen’s shoulder had nudged hers. “It’s all anyone’s talking about.”

“Hop?” Joyce still couldn’t quite process what she was hearing. “Jim Hopper. People think I’m sleeping with Jim Hopper?”

Karen smiled, “Of course. They say he visits you every day at the store.”

Joyce realized that was true. She hadn’t even really noticed. She just looked forward to seeing him. Never thinking about what it would look like to other people. Not that she cared, she’d been the crazy woman of Hawkins long enough to not care what other people thought. Still, she said, “We’re not together.” 

Joyce had stumbled over the words, and Karen had taken that to mean she was lying. “Sure, Joyce,” she said as she overexaggerated her wink.

Joyce knew the gossip would just get worse after that. She didn’t care what people thought, but it was the final motivation for her to finally call that real estate agent. 

Now here she was, trying not to care what other people thought again. It didn’t matter if Murray thought they should fuck. It didn’t matter that the mental image of Hopper pulling the car over, tearing off both their clothes and bringing her into his lap, had made Joyce so wet she had to cross her legs. It didn’t matter that she now knew that at least the rumor of little Hopper being not so little was true after that blanket slipped. None of that mattered.

What did matter was that Hopper was silent now. He wasn’t joking or yelling, or doing anything he would normally do when someone else was so wrong. He was just driving, his posture tight and rigid. Joyce couldn’t help but wonder if maybe he was holding himself back from just pulling the car over as well. 

Her kids. Joyce focused on the faces of Jonathan and Will. Her children were in trouble. That was all that mattered. 

**Author's Note:**

> There is no way he is dead. I refuse to believe we won't even get a Jopper kiss. No one is that cruel.


End file.
